1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electric coffee maker, and more particularly to an electric coffee maker for selectively brewing Espresso coffee and Americano coffee.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional electric coffee maker is designed to brew only one of Espresso coffee and Americano coffee. When one desires to brew these two kinds of coffee, it is necessary to have two coffee makers of different types, which is inconvenient.
The object of this invention is to provide an electric coffee maker, which can brew selectively Espresso coffee and Americano coffee.
According to this invention, an electric coffee maker includes a removable filtering member for receiving ground coffee beans. A selection unit can be actuated to operate the assembly of a water-supplying device, a flow control unit, and a dispensing member in a selected one of a single-stage Espresso coffee mode and a two-stage Americano coffee mode. In the Espresso coffee mode, hot water is supplied into the filtering member via a main waterpath for discharging brewed coffee. In the Americano coffee mode, hot water is supplied twice. The first supply of the hot water flows into the filtering member via the main water path so as to discharge brewed coffee into a cup. The second supply of the hot water flows into the cup via a secondary water path and a water passage space in the dispensing member that is located outside the filtering member.